Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-02-06
CALLERS ON
The Precautions That Are Taken Agains
BOres and Cranks

The Precautions That Are Taken Against
Bores and Cranks.
People who visit the offices of promi-
nent lawyers find that they are usually
cooPed up in little dens of their own, and
labyrinthine passages and inquisitiye
clerks bar the way. Those who are known
to have important business with the firm
are readily admitted to the inner cham
Der, but strangers are examined and cross
examined and their intentions thoroughly
sltted before they can gain access. This
eXcluSiveneSs is a matter Of protection,
and while the inciyility of clerks and
middle mel may be trying to the temper
OF a person having a right in the Office, yet
such a course must be taken or the lawyers
would have their hands full of business in
which there was no money, and be driven
to the vergepf suicide by bores.
THE reception ROOM" said the chief
clerk of a large law firm to u reporter,
has many queer people. in it at times.
There are a set of cranks of the most an
nOying kind who make the rounds of the
leading law firms in the city. They are
born litigants. Some of them have
money; the most of. them have o
whenever a man comes into an office for
the first time and unrolls an old map or
any other document with the yellow tinge
OF age on it the guns are at once trained
on him.. Mistakes are sometimes made.
1t does not always do to size up a man
from Appearances. My resignation was
asked Once because / sat down hard IN n
client who could sign his check for q mil
hon but looked like a tramp That's one
serious drawback; millionaires do not al
ways look like it.
THE people who own half the city and
car prove it aud those who are interested
in inventions and patents are the hardest
to get rid of. If they can get hold with an
eyelid they will never let 60. They have
plausible stories all, and insist on seeing
the head of the firm. Sometimes they do
get an audience, and as long As they pass
the outer gate he thinks they are all right
and takes an interest in the business. One
smart fellow got us to bringa suit for dam
ages against a well known business man.
Our client had documentary p.OOf that
made a splendid case and would have stood
in any court, but when the case came 10
trial it was shown that the people and
facts were drawn from his own magma
ton and the case wa thrown out of court.
1t was the third time he had fooled a law
yer, but as he paid for his fun no hearts
were broken.
1.-THE women clients of this kind are the
most troublesome. They insist on seeing
the head of the firm without telling their
business to any one else. TO tell them a
little lie about his being ont is no good,
for they will sit the whole day, if neces-
sary, to test the statement. There are
three or four women who havemOney and
spend their time going the rounds of the
prominent lawyers, trying To enlist them
in some imaginary suit. They will put up
i retainer, if asked TO, but woe he to the
man who takes it. \ trip TO Europe is
the only means of escape. They will
bring a suit on the slightest pretense, but
usually there is no ground for complaint.
The desire to litigate seems to be over
towering. One of the women visits the
knowledge OF law and can ask questions
that would make the oldest practitioner
scratch his head. Nearly all these pecul-
lar people are eccentric or mentally I'M
sound and most of them really believe
that they have been injured and are emit
tied to redress. At one time there were
several fine looking women who sought to
get an audience with first-class lawyers as
we'll as business men for blackmailingpu r-
poses, and it is a rule in some offices that
strange Ome are never seen by any MEM
her of the firm eSCcDt when witnesses are
present. 1t is peculiar thing that women
clients who have legitimate business in
court form a violent ~antipathy against any
one who is opposed to them and do not
hesitate to make known their intense
hatred by word and manner. '-New York
1ribHHe.